It’s no secret that I’m a big potato lover. My mood goes up several degrees when I know that lunch or dinner will be starring potatoes. Just like cornmeal, potatoes are staples in Romanian cuisine, therefore I have a strong emotional connection to these food products that bring back happy childhood memories. Usually, I resort to no-fuzz potato dishes such as whole oven-baked potatoes with pumpkin seed oil, or oven-fried potato wedges with herbs. But what about a potato salad? Well, it never occurred to me to make one when buying potatoes, as much as I love eating it. Back in my Romanian childhood, no birthday party or other joyous gathering was imaginable without a potato salad. So I guess I made a mental note once that a potato salad is party food or a special-occasion dish. Plus, it seemed to me like one of those more complicated dishes that take a lot of time to prepare.
Until this one evening a couple of weeks ago when I played around with avocado and basil to create a new pesto version! It turned out really yummy and creamy, and I knew instantly that this paste will make a great substitute for mayonnaise and go fantastic with potatoes. Huge benefit: The ‘mayonnaise’ is done within minutes, just mix all ingredients either in a blender or a food processor. Take now some boiled potatoes, cut them into pieces, add the avocado mayonnaise and some chopped scallions, and there you have your crowd-pleasing innovative potato salad.
Potato Salad with Avocado Mayonnaise and Scallions
Ingredients
- 2 kg waxy potatoes
- 4 scallions
For the Avocado Mayonnaise
- 2 medium avocados
- 50 ml olive oil
- 50 ml water
- 1 big garlic clove crushed
- 4 tbsp lemon juice about 1 lemon
- ½ bunch of basil about 25-30 g
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes (in their skin) until they are tender all the way through. You can test this by poking a potato with a knife or skewer and see if it slides easily all the way to the center.
- Let the potatoes cool completely, peel them, and cut them into bite-size pieces.
- Wash the scallions, remove outer parts that are wilted. Cut off the tip of greens and the root. Then chop the scallions.
- Put all the mayonnaise ingredients into a blender or food processor and mix until you have a creamy paste similar to regular mayonnaise. Taste test and adjust with salt and pepper according to your taste.
- Pour the mayonnaise over the potatoes and gently combine to not crush them.
- Serve the salad with chopped scallions on top.
Dear Ramona,
while reading through your blog to catch up with all the recipies I missed the last months, I stopped at this potato salad. Lucky, that you love potatoes as much as I do! At this very moment, I enjoy the first bites of this meal and it is soooo delicious! Espescially, your Avocado Mayonnaise is so tasty and perfect! I am sure, that I will do this salad over and over again… 🙂
Looking forward for more recipies with our beloved potato!
Anja
Dear Anja,
Thanks for your lovely comment. 🙂 I’m so happy that you love potatoes as much as I do and that you got the chance to make the potato salad with avocado mayonnaise. Great that it turned out well and that you like it. This potato salad has become a staple at our house too.
Will definitely post more recipe featuring potatoes, they are just such all-rounders and truly delicious.